Luke 9

₁Jesus called the twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases. ₂Then he sent them out to preach the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick, ₃after saying to them, “Take nothing with you for the journey: no stick, no beggar's bag, no food, no money, not even an extra shirt. ₄Wherever you are welcomed, stay in the same house until you leave that town; ₅wherever people don't welcome you, leave that town and shake the dust off your feet as a warning to them.”

₆The disciples left and travelled through all the villages, preaching the Good News and healing people everywhere.

₇When Herod, the ruler of Galilee, heard about all the things that were happening, he was very confused, because some people were saying that John the Baptist had come back to life. ₈Others were saying that Elijah had appeared, and still others that one of the prophets of long ago had come back to life. ₉Herod said, “I had John's head cut off; but who is this man I hear these things about?” And he kept trying to see Jesus.

₁₀The apostles came back and told Jesus everything they had done. He took them with him, and they went off by themselves to a town called Bethsaida. ₁₁When the crowds heard about it, they followed him. He welcomed them, spoke to them about the Kingdom of God, and healed those who needed it.

₁₂When the sun was beginning to set, the twelve disciples came to him and said, “Send the people away so that they can go to the villages and farms round here and find food and lodging, because this is a lonely place.”

₁₃But Jesus said to them, “You yourselves give them something to eat.”

They answered, “All we have are five loaves and two fish. Do you want us to go and buy food for this whole crowd?” ₁₄(There were about 5,000 men there.)

Jesus said to his disciples, “Make the people sit down in groups of about fifty each.”

₁₅After the disciples had done so, ₁₆Jesus took the five loaves and two fish, looked up to heaven, thanked God for them, broke them, and gave them to the disciples to distribute to the people. ₁₇They all ate and had enough, and the disciples took up twelve baskets of what was left over.

₁₈One day when Jesus was praying alone, the disciples came to him. “Who do the crowds say I am?” he asked them.

₁₉“Some say that you are John the Baptist,” they answered. “Others say that you are Elijah, while others say that one of the prophets of long ago has come back to life.”

₂₀“What about you?” he asked them. “Who do you say I am?”

Peter answered, “You are God's Messiah.”

₂₁Then Jesus gave them strict orders not to tell this to anyone. ₂₂He also said to them, “The Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the teachers of the Law. He will be put to death, but three days later he will be raised to life.”

₂₃And he said to them all, “Anyone who wants to come with me must forget self, take up their cross every day, and follow me. ₂₄For whoever wants to save their own life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it. ₂₅Will people gain anything if they win the whole world but are themselves lost or defeated? Of course not! ₂₆If people are ashamed of me and of my teaching, then the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. ₂₇I assure you that there are some here who will not die until they have seen the Kingdom of God.”

₂₈About a week after he had said these things, Jesus took Peter, John, and James with him and went up a hill to pray. ₂₉While he was praying, his face changed its appearance, and his clothes became dazzling white. ₃₀Suddenly two men were there talking with him. They were Moses and Elijah, ₃₁who appeared in heavenly glory and talked with Jesus about the way in which he would soon fulfil God's purpose by dying in Jerusalem. ₃₂Peter and his companions were sound asleep, but they woke up and saw Jesus' glory and the two men who were standing with him. ₃₃As the men were leaving Jesus, Peter said to him, “Master, how good it is that we are here! We will make three tents, one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” (He did not really know what he was saying.)

₃₄While he was still speaking, a cloud appeared and covered them with its shadow; and the disciples were afraid as the cloud came over them. ₃₅A voice said from the cloud, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen — listen to him!”

₃₆When the voice stopped, there was Jesus all alone. The disciples kept quiet about all this, and told no one at that time anything they had seen.

₃₇The next day Jesus and the three disciples went down from the hill, and a large crowd met Jesus. ₃₈A man shouted from the crowd, “Teacher! I beg you, look at my son — my only son! ₃₉A spirit attacks him with a sudden shout and throws him into a fit, so that he foams at the mouth; it keeps on hurting him and will hardly let him go! ₄₀I begged your disciples to drive it out, but they couldn't.”

₄₁Jesus answered, “How unbelieving and wrong you people are! How long must I stay with you? How long do I have to put up with you?” Then he said to the man, “Bring your son here.”

₄₂As the boy was coming, the demon knocked him to the ground and threw him into a fit. Jesus gave a command to the evil spirit, healed the boy, and gave him back to his father. ₄₃All the people were amazed at the mighty power of God.

The people were still marvelling at everything Jesus was doing, when he said to his disciples, ₄₄“Don't forget what I am about to tell you! The Son of Man is going to be handed over to the power of human beings.” ₄₅But the disciples did not know what this meant. It had been hidden from them so that they could not understand it, and they were afraid to ask him about the matter.

₄₆An argument broke out among the disciples as to which one of them was the greatest. ₄₇Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he took a child, stood him by his side, ₄₈and said to them, “Whoever welcomes this child in my name, welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me, also welcomes the one who sent me. For the one who is least among you all is the greatest.”

₄₉John spoke up, “Master, we saw a man driving out demons in your name, and we told him to stop, because he doesn't belong to our group.”

₅₀“Do not try to stop him,” Jesus said to him and to the other disciples, “because whoever is not against you is for you.”

₅₁As the time drew near when Jesus would be taken up to heaven, he made up his mind and set out on his way to Jerusalem. ₅₂He sent messengers ahead of him, who went into a village in Samaria to get everything ready for him. ₅₃But the people there would not receive him, because it was clear that he was on his way to Jerusalem. ₅₄When the disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?”

₅₅Jesus turned and rebuked them. ₅₆Then Jesus and his disciples went on to another village.

₅₇As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.”

₅₈Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lie down and rest.”

₅₉He said to another man, “Follow me.”

But that man said, “Sir, first let me go back and bury my father.”

₆₀Jesus answered, “Let the dead bury their own dead. You go and proclaim the Kingdom of God.”

₆₁Someone else said, “I will follow you, sir; but first let me go and say goodbye to my family.”

₆₂Jesus said to him, “Anyone who starts to plough and then keeps looking back is of no use to the Kingdom of God.”